Diagnostic Notes

Sarcophagidae is a large family of flies with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are commonly called "flesh flies".

The taxonomy of these flies is difficult and poorly understood at the species level.

The most obvious character to separate the larvae of Sarcophagidae from Calliphoridae is the Sarcophagids have the posterior spiracles situtated in a deep cavity.

The image captured specimen was collected from the umbicial cord of an 8 day old baby (March 2009). Its definitive provenance of local myiasis makes it a valuable specimen for image capture to assist with the identification of these larvae.